Truth
JAMB boss lists major challenges
Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) said malpractice and indiscipline are some of the board’s major challenges yet to be fully addressed. The Registrar made this known when members of the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education visited the board’s headquarters in Bwari, Abuja on Monday. Oloyede said that the challenges, unfortunately, were mostly with regards to parents trying to bend the system by all means and get their wards or children into schools, irrespective of their performance. “Our challenge remains examination malpractice, especially with regards to parents who keep calling me to favour their wards or children whether they meet the requirements of the system or not. “There’s also indiscipline from the tertiary institutions...
Cuba blames unrest on U.S. interference as Joe Biden backs protests
Cuba blamed historic protests that took place over the weekend on U.S. “economic asphyxiation” and social media campaigns by a minority of U.S.-financed counter-revolutionaries, while U.S. President Joe Biden said he stood with the Cuban people. The streets of Havana were quiet on Monday, although there was a heavy police presence. Outages in mobile internet – the only way many Cubans have of accessing the web – were frequent. Chanting “freedom” and calling for President Miguel Diaz-Canel to step down, thousands of Cubans joined street protests here from Havana to Santiago on Sunday in the biggest anti-government demonstrations on the Communist-run island in decades. At least 80 protesters, activists, and independent journalists had been detained nationwide since Sunday, according to exile...
Yobe governor: No plan to retrench workers
Gov. Mai Mala-Buni of Yobe on Tuesday said his administration has no plan to retrench civil servants in spite of the state’s meagre resources. Mala-Buni gave the assurance in Damaturu on the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed permanent secretaries and board members. He said he would continue to attract investments to Yobe from both state and non-state actors in order to meet the financial obligations of the state. “People accuse me of frequenting Abuja; the truth is, if I remain in Damaturu, we cannot pay even our salary bills. “And that means we will have to join the league of states that are retrenching workers; we don’t have such plan. “You are aware of the projects we started, including the four modern markets we are building, the ongoing 3,600 houses, the over 87...
PANDEF cautions Nigerian government over Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho, others
The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has cautioned the Federal Government over some of its recent actions, warning that the government should consider the consequences of treating with contempt, the 16-Point Agenda it presented to President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2016. The group also condemned the midnight raid on the house of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho and cautioned the Government’s plan to identify the sponsors of the rearrested leader of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. The socio-cultural organization said the action of the government has caused the Niger Delta youths to declare a vote of no-confidence on PANDEF because it was the leaders of the region that requested them to stay action when they took a decision to cri...
Anambra election: I’ve not highjacked APC primary – Senator Uba
File Photo A leading contender for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket, Andy Uba, has distanced himself from alleged attempts to hijack the party’s ongoing primary election. A statement in Awka, Saturday afternoon by Uba’s campaign organisation said the allegation was the last resort of people it called paper tigers. The statement read: ‘We are presently in touch with a number of false allegations where it has been stated that our principal, Senator Andy Uba has highjacked the process meant to democratically select a candidate for the forthcoming polls in November. ‘We wish to state categorically that nothing can be further from the truth as our principal, Senator Andy Uba, remains committed to the tenets of democracy and fairness and will thus not indulge in anything t...
Ekiti 2022: Governor Fayemi’s performance‘ll make the job easier for APC – party chairman
A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Akinlayo Kolawole, has disclosed that the performances of the Governor Kayode Fayemi-led administration would make next year’s governorship election easier for the party to win in the state. Kolawole, a former House of Representatives aspirant for the Ekiti North Federal Constituency Two in the 2019 general elections, made the disclosure in a chat with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, urging the party leadership not to take anything for granted ahead of the all important election. He enjoined every member of APC in Ekiti and beyond to show more interest in sharing the good news to the public. The APC stalwart reiterated commitment to his political aspiration, stressing that ” it is alive and kicking.” He said : ” You are all around an...
Police: No invasion of miscreants into Ekiti
The Ekiti State Police Command has described as untrue the reports that miscreants have invaded Ado Ekiti, the state capital. The state’s Commissioner of Police, Tunde Mobayo, who disclosed that the information was false, said it was intended to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the town. A video had circulated online on Friday that some Fulani-Hausa men were found around Agric Olope Housing Estate, in Ado Ekiti, in possession of dangerous weapons including AK-47 rifles with the intention to unleash terror on the community. Mobayo, in a statement signed by the command’s spokesman, ASP Sunday Abutu, and made available to reporters on Saturday, explained that the news was fake as the men were in the town to execute a building project, warned peddlers against spreading false information. He ...
Police dispel report of armed Fulani invasion of Ekiti market
The Ekiti State Police Command has dispelled reports that armed Fulani bandits had stormed Ado Ekiti, the state capital. The state’s Commissioner of Police, Tunde Mobayo, said it is important to allay the fear that engulfed residents of the town when the news made the rounds on Wednesday. A report had trended online on Wednesday that a truck loaded with Hausa-Fulani men, all armed with AK-47 rifles and other weapons, had arrived at the Shasha market, along Ikere Road in Ado Ekiti. Mobayo, in a statement signed by the Command’s spokesman, ASP Sunday Abutu, and made available to reporters on Wednesday night, explained that the report was concocted by purveyors of fake news, and should be disregarded by residents of the town. The statement, entitled “No Armed Hausa/Fulani Invaded Shasha Marke...
Shehu Sani: A submissive legislature will enable dictatorship
CNN Former senator representing Kaduna central, Shehu Sani, says having a subservient legislature leads to dictatorship. Speaking at the 2021 national conference of the Nigerian Progressives’ Coalition in Abuja, Sani said that a submissive legislative will only enable a governance style in which the whole nation will bow to the whims of one person. Although he made no mention of the current national assembly, the comments come amid the criticism against the leadership of the legislature which has remained silent on the government’s decision to suspend Twitter’s operations in Nigeria. At the conference held over the weekend, Sani spoke against a legislature that is “afraid to speak truth to power.” “The legislature is supposed to have the duty of oversight on the activities of the executive...
Pope says Canada school discovery painful, but stops short of apology
Pope Francis said on Sunday that he was pained by the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former Catholic school for indigenous students in Canada and called for respect for the rights and cultures of native peoples. However, Francis stopped short of the direct apology some Canadians had demanded. Two days ago, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Catholic Church must take responsibility for its role in running many of the schools. Indigenous leaders and school survivors said the Church needed to do much more. “We’re all pained and saddened. Who isn’t?” said Bobby Cameron, chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations in Saskatchewan. Speaking to pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly blessing, Francis urged Canadian political and Catholic...
Mass grave reopens wounds among indigenous survivors of colonial Canadian school system
The discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former residential school in Canada has reopened wounds for survivors of the system, they said, as the government pledged to spend previously promised money to search for more unmarked graves. The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc indigenous nation in British Columbia announced last week it had found the remains of 215 children, some as young as three, buried at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, once Canada’s largest such school. Between 1831 and 1996, Canada’s residential school system forcibly separated about 150,000 children from their homes and subjected them to abuse, rape and malnutrition at schools across the country in what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 called “cultural genocide”. Run by the government and c...
House member: Lai Mohammed destabilizing Kwara, destroying APC
The All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker representing Offa/Oyun/Ifelodun Federal Constituency of Kwara State at the National Assembly, Hon Tijani Kayode Ismail, has accused the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, of destabilizing the state and destroying the party. Ismail spoke at a press conference in Ilorin on Wednesday in reaction to the recent comments by the minister. According to him, “There were crises before the party’s primary election and after the emergence of party candidates, I could remember when Alhaji Lai Mohammed made attempt to replace the names of some candidates. “He personally told me to step down for Gbenga Power which I resisted and he later sponsored Gbenga to challenge my victory in Court. Thank God, I came out victorious. “Alhaji Lai, as ...